


blame it on the mistletoe

by bettycooopers



Series: twelve days of barchie [11]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Mistletoe, Pre-Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:42:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28448613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bettycooopers/pseuds/bettycooopers
Summary: Archie glances up at the ceiling, and sure enough, he and Betty are standing underneath an ominous looking sprig of mistletoe.
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Betty Cooper
Series: twelve days of barchie [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2066289
Comments: 1
Kudos: 47





	blame it on the mistletoe

**Author's Note:**

> day eleven! a little pre-series mistletoe for you. i can't believe there's only one more day! hope you've enjoyed these lil snippets as much as i have.
> 
> thank u thank u thank u to my snapstreak partner, [becca](https://archiveofourown.org/users/packedyoursaturday), you are the only person i would willingly watch morph into a horse...i will not be providing context.

Cheryl Blossom hosting a party isn’t news, exactly, but when Archie Andrews finds Betty Cooper drunk in Cheryl’s study, he finds it to be a noteworthy occasion.

He’s pretty sure Betty‘s never been drunk before – mostly because the only times she would’ve gotten drunk, she would’ve been with him. They’re best friends, after all. Archie has a beer in his hand – he’s been drunk before, but only a few times – as he walks through the big entranceway to the study and narrows his gaze at Betty, who’s swaying in the corner, a book in one hand and a red plastic cup in the other. “Hey,” he laughs, poking her in the shoulder and grinning as she turns slowly, her eyes narrow. “You alright?”

_ “Archie,” _ Betty hiccups, a soft grin sliding onto her lips. She giggles up at him, tapping the book in her hand to his upper arm, “Hi.”

“Hi,” he laughs, grabbing the book and setting it back down on the shelf. “Hi...you alright in there?”

“M’fine,” she grins, bringing her cup up to her lips and taking a long sip. “How are you, Arch” she says into the cup, and he squints at her. 

“I’m  _ great,  _ Betts,” he chuckles, pulling the cup from her fingers and sniffing at its contents, his face souring. It smells like lighter fluid, and maybe a little soda. “Who gave you this?”

“Cheryl,” she shrugs, taking the cup back from him and turning on her heel, making her way over to a leather chair, flopping down into it. “S’not bad, if you try it. She said I was  _ a prude,  _ who needed to be more  _ season 2 Betty Draper,”  _ she waves her hand dramatically as she speaks, and Archie watches as the liquid sloshes out of her cup, raising his brows. 

“Okay,” he chuckles, shaking his head and sitting on the arm of her chair. “Whatever that means.”

“I dunno, Archie,” Betty shrugs. “I just took the cup and ran away. But it’s not  _ bad,  _ or anything.” Betty smiles up at him, and Archie swallows. Her smile doesn’t make him uneasy – her smile makes him smile, more than anything – but it’s the way that he can see the alcohol coloring her features, the way her cheeks are pinker than he thinks he’s ever seen them, that’s making him a bit uneasy. He takes a sip of his beer and watches her for a moment, her eyes seeming to focus and defocus on him. 

“I left you for like,” he chuckles, shaking his head, “five minutes, max.”

“You went and found  _ Reggie,”  _ Betty scowls, shaking her head. Archie raises his brows at her. “It was like an hour. ‘Cause Reggie’s  _ important,” _ Betty sticks out her tongue and Archie laughs, pulling the cup from her fingers and setting it down on the table beside them. 

“Reggie’s important, now? Who said,” Archie grins over at her and Betty pouts up at him.

“You stole my cup,” she whines. Archie nods. “That’s rude, I was drinking that.”

“You should drink some water, Betty,” he mumbles, looking over his shoulder and scratching at the back of his neck. He holds his hand out to her, wiggling his fingers. “C’mon, we’re gonna go find you some.”

Betty stares at Archie’s hand baldly, then looks up at his face. She brings her own face close to his fingers for a moment. “We’re going to go  _ find  _ me some?”

Archie blinks slowly. “Yeah, Betts. C’mon,” he stretches his fingers out and watches as she takes his hand, her fingers slipping gently between his. He squeezes and meets her eyes, raising his brow. “You good?”

“Stop  _ asking  _ me that,” she whines, standing up and stumbling into his side, sighing as she looks up at him, her eyes wide. “I can have a  _ drink,  _ Archie. It’s just...a drink.”

“I’m gonna say it was more than  _ a  _ drink, though,” he laughs, and Betty giggles in a tell-tale way, bumping into his side gently. “Was it?”

“That was my third one,” she smiles, lifting her free hand and pressing her finger to her lips. “Shh,” she pokes him gently in the chest, “that was supposed to be my secret.”

“Some secret,” Archie mutters, shaking his head and poking his tongue out at her. “Don’t worry, it’s safe with me.”

Betty hums softly and he feels her squeezing his hand, relaxing a little. He wasn’t totally sure how he was going to get her sober enough to bring her home to Mrs. Cooper, but he would figure that out later. He hears Cheryl Blossom’s distinct laugh a few feet ahead and doesn’t think anything of it until she’s clearing her throat and he hears her practically cooing, “Well look at these two  _ turtledoves _ holding hands under the mistletoe.”

Archie stops in his tracks, Betty shuffling a step or two forward and nearly losing her footing as Cheryl chuckles to herself, twirling the tail of the fabric jeweled belt wrapped around her red skirt in her hand. Archie glances up at the ceiling, and sure enough, they’re standing underneath an ominous looking sprig of mistletoe. He glances over at Betty, who hasn’t noticed and is instead, glaring at Cheryl with all the scorn she can muster – which, three drinks in, is more than he thinks he’s ever seen on her face.

“Cheryl,” Archie sighs, shaking his head, “come on. We need to get Betty some water.”

“Au contraire,” Cheryl chastises, shaking her head. “You need to kiss, first. It’s unwritten  _ law, _ after all...and it shouldn’t be all that difficult, considering,” she gestures to the two of them, and he’s not totally sure what that  _ means,  _ but he doesn’t think it’s supposed to be  _ nice.  _

“Cheryl,” Betty sputters, grabbing tightly onto Archie’s arm, “leave Archie alone, would you?”

“I will,” Cheryl smiles, her eyes wicked, “so long as you kiss him, Mary Sue.”

Betty frowns, squinting at Cheryl. “Why would I do that?” She sounds terrified, and Archie peeks over at her. Her eyes are wide and confused, she looks like she’s about to start panicking. Archie squeezes her hand, brushing his thumb over hers. “Why would I want to  _ kiss  _ Archie?”

“Hello,” Cheryl rolls her eyes, pointing up at the ceiling.  _ “Want  _ is hardly a factor here – mistletoe? What, a couple of drinks and you and your beloved bestie here swap IQ scores?”

Betty bites down on her lower lip and looks up at the ceiling, then over at Archie. Archie sips his beer and looks down into the cup. He has a sneaking suspicion that Betty  _ does  _ want to kiss him, sometimes – and he doesn’t know how he feels about that, nor does he know how he feels about the fact that it’s not a foreign thought for him, either. He does know that he doesn’t want to disappoint or upset her, so he hasn’t brought it up, or anything. He sighs, rolling his eyes at Cheryl. “Just get out of the way, Cheryl,” he grumbles, shaking his head, “you don’t...we don’t have to do anything, it’s  _ mistletoe.  _ You can just leave it alone, and we’ll go get Betty water, and–,”

“It’s  _ tradition,  _ Archie,” Cheryl crosses her arms over her chest, tapping her foot impatiently. “If it’s just  _ mistletoe,  _ what’s the problem?”

He shuts his eyes and then looks over at Betty, who’s staring up at him with wild, sad eyes of her own. “It’s just a kiss, Betts,” he says, his voice soft. He squeezes her hand, “just...a dumb mistletoe kiss, and then we can get you water.”

“I,” she swallows, looking over at Cheryl, then back up at him. “That’s not how,” she shuts her eyes for a second, “that’s not how our first,” she shakes her head, squeezing his hand tightly. Archie feels heat creeping up on his neck. He’d had the same thought, initially:  _ that’s not how our first kiss is supposed to be, though.  _ He brushes his thumb against hers slowly, trying to keep her calm. 

“It’s not,” he says, his voice quiet. “It,” he drops his face down, close to hers, so Cheryl can’t hear, “it doesn’t have to count, okay?”

He doesn’t give Betty the chance to argue, just leans down and kisses her gently, his hand slipping around her waist. He feels her sigh against his mouth and tries to ignore the way his heart is clutching in his chest.

“Alright,” Cheryl claps her hands after a long moment. “We don’t need a whole  _ show,  _ you two.”

Betty jumps back from Archie and he reaches down, grabbing her hand and pulling her past Cheryl, glaring at her as they make their way into the kitchen. Betty ignores him as they stand at the kitchen counter, ignores him as he hands her a glass of water, ignores him as she sips it slowly. She won’t meet his gaze, even when he says her name. He sighs, dragging his hand through his hair before he presses his fingers to her wrist. 

She drinks a few glasses of water slowly, still avoiding his gaze as he refills her cup, then looks up at him with wide eyes. “Will you take me home?” Archie slides his hand down to hers, lacing their fingers and squeezing it softly as he nods, smiling.

The cold air seems to sober her up more than the water and he feels her leaning into him, resting her head on his shoulder. He wraps his arm around her, pulling her in. “You feel okay?” He feels her nod and he nods back, gently. 

They walk in almost comfortable silence, Betty trying to pull her hand from his when they get onto their street and Archie not allowing it until they’re standing in front of their houses. “You sure you’re good to get inside?” Betty avoids his gaze as she sighs and nods. “You going to ignore me for the rest of the week?”

“Archie,” she sighs, and he watches as she presses her lips together. “Come on.”

“Betts,” he feels his shoulders slump.  _ “You  _ come on. I don’t know what you’re,” he stops, his eyes searching her face. “You don’t have to be...it doesn’t count.”

“Don’t,” she shakes her head. “I don’t want to talk about it, Arch.”

“We don’t have to talk about it,” he murmurs, shutting his eyes. Betty makes a sound he doesn’t recognize, and when he opens his eyes there are tears in hers. “Betty,” he sighs, “Betty, don’t.”

“Let go,” she tugs at her hand, “and I can go inside, and we can just pretend none of this happened tomorrow, okay?”

Archie frowns, shaking his head and pulling her a little closer. He’s not totally sure what he’s doing until he’s doing it – wrapping his arm around her waist, leaning down, and kissing her...this time, a little less gently. He feels her slip her arm around his neck, her fingers inching into his hair after a moment. He pulls back, then leans in again, kissing her once more before he steps away tentatively. “There,” he says, his mouth close to hers, “that one can count, okay?”

Betty doesn’t say anything. Her eyes are closed, and he smiles, giving her hand a light squeeze. “Okay,” she breathes.

He smiles as she lets him walk her up the front steps, leaning up on her toes to kiss his cheek before she shuts the door behind her. He hardly notices himself bringing his fingers to his lips as he makes his way back to his own front step, glancing over his shoulder at the Cooper house before he heads inside. 

He blames the feelings buzzing around in his head on the mistletoe.

**Author's Note:**

> you can follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/bettycooopers) or [tumblr](https://bettycooopers.tumblr.com) if you feel like watching me break down in real time!


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